Military ombudsman shouldn't act as advocate for Canadians in uniform: MacKay

Amid a brewing battle between the military ombudsman and Canadian Forces leadership, Defence Minister Peter MacKay has subtly warned the watchdog not to cross the line and become an advocate for men and women in uniform

OTTAWA — Amid a brewing battle between the military ombudsman and Canadian Forces leadership, Defence Minister Peter MacKay has subtly warned the watchdog not to cross the line and become an advocate for men and women in uniform.

“I see the main role of an ombudsman as a mediator who is always working to resolve complaints and problems, “ MacKay said at the start of an international military ombudsmen conference hosted by Canadian Forces ombudsman Pierre Daigle on Monday.

“There is a difference from advocacy.”

Senior military leaders have dismissed Daigle’s findings that two former soldiers suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorders were unfairly treated by Defence Department officials.

Chris Wattie / Reuters files

The military is claiming Daigle has no jurisdiction to investigate such cases, according to documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.

MacKay, who did not address the dispute in his speech, warned there is no faster way for a military to lose credibility than by attacking such watchdogs, which are essential for fostering public and service member confidence.

“Nothing undermines credibility or drives cynicism higher than to have that office assailed,” he said.

But his comments appeared to draw a clear line in the sand over what was considered acceptable behaviour on the part of the military watchdogs, which he repeatedly described as an impartial office for resolving conflicts.

“An ombudsman must always uphold the very highest standards and conduct himself or herself accordingly,” MacKay said. “This is vitally important.”

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The office of the military ombudsman has been important in recent years because of the thousands of Canadian soldiers and military families who have had to cope with dangerous deployments to Afghanistan and other parts of the world.

This has included a significant increase in the number of service personnel reporting they have been afflicted with PTSD and other operational stress disorders, or Operational Stress Injuries, as they are known.

The decision to ignore the recommendations in Daigle’s two reports, the result of five years of investigation, appears to be a hardening of the attitude in the military leadership toward PTSD cases and what the Canadian Forces ombudsman can and cannot investigate.

Officials in the ombudsman’s office note this is one of the first times the Canadian Forces leadership has questioned the watchdog’s authority to investigate the conduct of officers and department managers.

In the two separate reports, Daigle determined that managers from the Operational Stress Injury Social Support program, the organization whose job it is to help soldiers suffering from mental-health issues, unfairly treated some of their own employees who were dealing with the same ailments. OSISS is run jointly by the Defence Department and Veterans Affairs.

The two veterans, hired as peer support co-ordinators to help fellow soldiers, complained they were forced from their jobs after a series of run-ins with OSISS management.

In the case of one of the soldiers, retired Master Cpl. Kevin Clark, OSISS clawed back his final pay to cover the extra sick days he had taken because of his deteriorating health, the ombudsman’s report states.

The stress created by the events at OSISS led to a significant deterioration of Clark’s health and financial situation, the report noted.

To produce the reports, the ombudsman’s investigators reviewed hundreds of pages of documents and interviewed almost 40 individuals.

But in a June 27 letter, Rear Admiral Andrew Smith, the Canadian Forces chief of military personnel, told Daigle he had no jurisdiction to look into the complaints from the two combat veterans. He also told Daigle the investigation reports were not balanced.

Daigle fired back in a July 12 letter, writing it was clear Smith did not understand the mandate of the ombudsman’s office. Daigle pointed out to Smith that mandate clearly stated Canadian Forces and National Defence employees, either retired or current, can bring a complaint to the ombudsman in matters related to the DND and military.

He also noted the complaints from the two soldiers were directed at employees of the department and the Canadian Forces.

“From the tone and errors in your letter, I think you are more interested in attacking our office and the core principles of our office than addressing the serious concerns of two former Canadian Forces members who were treated unfairly by your organization,” Daigle told Smith.

Daigle said he considered the investigation complete and asked Smith once again to support the recommendations.

Officials in the ombudsman’s office say they are trying to resolve the situation. “Due to the fact this case is not fully resolved, it would be inappropriate for the Canadian Forces to comment at this point,” added an email from the Canadian Forces.

The ombudsman’s office also received a third complaint alleging unfair management practices and procedures in OSISS, but did not make any findings on that, the Citizen reported.

Daigle’s two reports are potentially damaging to the efforts of the Conservative government and the Canadian Forces to send a message that they care about soldiers dealing with mental-health and other stress issues.

Some soldiers have come forward to say the military leadership and government has abandoned them after they admitted suffering from stress disorders.

In May, one father went as far as to kidnap his son from Canadian Forces Base Petawawa in Ontario and admit the Afghan war veteran into a civilian treatment facility after the military failed to deal with the soldier’s problems.